Wednesday 20th. March 2013

After all the excitement of Hawfinches and  Great Grey Shrike last week , it was back to earth time with a cold , muddy visit this morning to Sevenoaks Reserve . On arrival , although the birds were singing for the Spring Equinox , it felt far from it , and several layers were once again donned , before starting . First look from the ramp was nothing to write home about birdwise , with gulls , geese and Lapwing being the most numerous seen . Undeterred , I set off towards Tyler Hide , finding Bullfinch calling and Mistle Thrush in full song on the way . From the hide , with the cold wind blowing

straight in , apart from the species seen from the ramp , I could only find 5 Common Snipe , together

on the far side of one of the islands , and , still dozing , a pair of Shoveler in the same area . A few Cormorants were sharing the outer islands with the many Lapwing , and along with the Coots and Moorhens on the flooded area , that was as good as it got . The walk down to Sutton Hide was even

more uneventful , and when I opened the flap , just four Teal and two Canada Geese were all that I found . A check on the reedbed from Slingsby Hide produced absolutely nothing , but on the way back to the ramp , a Great Spotted Woodpecker gave some 'exposure compensation' practise , and a

large flock of Siskin could be heard , high in the Alders behind the fishermen's car park . A male

Wren was singing and displaying along the track towards Long Lake , and a Great Crested Grebe was

found on the East Lake , complete with hair gel , but no sign of any hoped for displaying pairs . Once again , no sign of a Bittern at Long lake , but another small flock of Siskin , lower down this time ,

were found . Retracing my footsteps , the first of two Kingfisher sighting was at the end of Long Lake , as the bird zig-zagged through the trees towards Snipe Bog Lake . There was no sign of the bird when I looked out of Willow Hide , somehow I knew there wouldn't be . All the action on the

lake was from the geese , with Canadas arriving noisily , and even noisier when they left to feed in

the field behind . Just a few Teal and Tufted Duck ,and the ever present Coots made up the numbers ,

and over in the Willow on the far bank , a pair of Jays , almost camouflaged by the branches in front of them . The second Kingfisher sighting was at the corner of the West Lake , on my way back to the car park , but neither posed . Although there were some sunny periods during the visit , it was now getting darker with the threat of rain . A stop at the horse field on the way home found the juvenile Common Buzzard on sentry duty on a fence post , but before I got out of the car , it flew off into the

trees , and nearby , the rookery now has nine nests .